Building Strategies
Knowing when to make buildings and units makes all the difference in the world. It is what sets intermmediate players apart from experts. If any area of my game needs help, it's right here. I suspect it's the same for a lot of you, so let's help each other out.
X reminded me of a strategy that SmokeDog once told me. Get a second mine as soon as the enemy discovers your first. That's when he gears up for an attack and isn't searching anymore for your city. By the time he spots your 2nd mine, you can have it walled or towered in with at least one barracks. Thanks X!
The work you do early on has a multiplier effect. For example, if your third farm gets up a minute late, all the peasants after that will be a minute behind schedule. All the buildings they make will be behind. Early on, that's all the buildings and troops you'll need in the future. You'll never catch up. All of you slip-ups stay with you.
Thrugg has pointed out the error of my ways. I get a little tower happy sometimes. Towers don't always reach where they need to, and they don't help much when it's time to expand. They certainly don't help you ally when he is in trouble. They do have their place in the game, although later on in the game, they're just sapper and death knight bait. It is still wise to wall in a tower or two at a new town, but wait until you have enough units to protect the area before putting them up. Putting them up early can also set you behind a great deal (see the comment above.) A cannon tower takes 1550 gold and 500 lumber. You can just about build your second town hall for that amount.
Thrugg on Towers: Two Words. Towers Blow. Now keep that in mind, and I will tell you the few situations where they are actually worth building! In one on one games I almost never build towers. Towers are like the Maginot Line, except worse. Not only do they not move and cost alot of money they change your whole strat from offensive to defensive. You want to build a big army, keep it together, and destroy your opponet where it hurts. You can't do that with towers, they just sit there. They can often be gotten around, and they are easy bait for cats, blizzards and dragons (at least cannon towers). They are even worse when they are built early, money early in the game is worth alot more than money late in the game.
Building a tower early will throw your whole town development back. Just think about it, would you rather be the guy with the big army and no tower at your base, or with a smaller army and a tower back at your base? If you are sealed in, and your town gets attack, just send your big army back and destroy the smaller army before if can do any damage. If your opponet has a tower, just park your army outside his town and seal him off.
Pretty much the only time I build towers in one on one games is near a mine that I can't seal off. Like continent to explore. In this case the tower is sealed in (as all towers should be) and it is probably a cannon tower. This way if he attacks, at least your hall should be saved, and he will take some damage. In this case, it is built to protect your hall, not your peasents which will get killed anyway as unsealed peasents tend to do! I also ocassionally build towers in one on one games if my expansion mine is far away, and the route there from my barracks is twisted and hard to follow. In which case I may not get their in time to save my expansion town. Otherwise take my advice and save your gold, one on one towers blow.
Get a barracks up by new town halls as soon as possible. Later in the game, get a mage tower up near it too.
NEW here's the question that has plagued mankind since the dawn of time: Should I make a 2nd barracks or a smith first? The answer is: it depends. Now this advice applies to low and medium, not high. On high, just build whatever you feel like. :)
There are some questions to ask, really. How soon can I expect to be found? If you are on a level where someone is likely to find you early on, go for the 2nd barracks. If you see an enemy scout, go 2nd barracks right away. If someone is scouting, it means they want to rush. Chances are they won't have worried too much about a smith.
The other issue is knowing who you are playing. If it's someone that's likely to wall in and tower up, go smith first. If you keep feeding his towers with your footmen while he's busy upgrading, you're certain to be behind when he busts out.
Your map's resources are important in deciding which way to go, as well. If the mines are short on gold or expansion is tough, you'll want to save the 600 gold per footman, plus the needed farms, and go for upgrades.
